Anything But Children or, The ABC's of Cato and Katniss
by FlawedPerception
Summary: A series of Cato/Katniss oneshots that follow along the alphabet. Ratings range from K to M due to language and content.
1. A

**Hey guys, there's a more in-depth A/N at the bottom, but I just wanted to take a chance to explain this. Basically, this is just going to go from A to Z, like an actual alphabet game. I'll pick a random word, or two, and maybe a phrase for which I will write a ficlet or oneshot for.**

* * *

_Anything or Anymore – Take your pick [Modern AU]_

Rated M - Nothing explicit, just... content and language. Soft M, really.

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"So, Katniss…" A very familiar voice calls out from the dark, causing her to jump. "I think you owe me a little something."

Katniss rolls her eyes and turns the lights on in her apartment. "How'd you get in this time? I thought I locked the door." She walks over to the kitchen and rummages around in the fridge for something to drink before she feels his hands trailing down her back. She shivers at his touch and reaches for a carton of lemonade.

"Oh, I have my ways." He pulls Katniss flush against his chest, resting his chin atop her head as his arms wrap around her waist. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" He doesn't wait for her to answer before spinning her around and nibbling along her jaw.

She moans and fists her hands in his shirt. "W-what do you want?" She gasps and digs her nails into his chest as he nips her earlobe. "C- Cato…" Katniss whimpers when she feels his erection digging into her hip.

Cato smirks against her ear, "You promised me _anything _I wanted, Katniss." He runs his hands down her sides and rests them on her ass, squeezing lightly. "I'm pretty sure you _know_ what I _want_." His breath is hot against her ear, and Katniss squirms in his hold as she imagines herself underneath him, calling out his name in pleasure as he thrusts into her. "I know what you're thinking about, Katniss." The lust in his voice is clear and Katniss certainly wouldn't mind entertaining her thoughts for an hour, or two, or three, or the whole night. But _he_ suddenly pulls away, a smug grin on his face, "Any other time, Katniss, I would have jumped on the chance. But, you promised me _anything_ and contrary to where we were headed a couple minutes ago, what I want is much more… different." He pulls away and saunters off into her living room, leaving Katniss gasping for breath and slightly disappointed.

She takes a few minutes to compose herself, calming her nerves and smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes. Katniss shuts the still open fridge and pours herself a cup of lemonade, not bothering to waste her time pouring _him_ one before walking over to her living room and plopping herself down on the couch. "Would you care to explain what _that_ was back there?" Her voice has a slight twinge of irritation with a veil hint of a threat behind it, and her face is fixed in an almost permanent scowl.

Cato almost laughs at her, Katniss has never been able to intimidate him and she knows it. "What are you talking about, Katniss?" He asks innocently. She's almost tempted to slap him, she really is, but instead settles for a pointed glare at him as she sips on her lemonade.

"What did you want?" Katniss finally asks after a couple minutes of silence. She's curious, she really is, Cato _has_ always been there for her, no matter what, and this 'thing' that they have going on between the two of them is a fairly recent development and she can't help but wonder if he's thinking of backing out. Cato wouldn't do that. He wouldn't just leave after everything, would he? No, she finally decides after a minute or two of contemplating things, he probably wouldn't. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts and notices that he's looking at her oddly, and then she realizes that she's been completely out of it for almost ten minutes and smiles sheepishly at him. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Cato rolls his eyes and slinks further into the sofa. "It's not that important, obviously. I mean, you completely spaced out so…" He chuckles and shakes his head as he gazes out her window, his eyes focusing on the waves as they lap at the shore. She eyes him carefully, watching his every movement. It is important Katniss decides, at least to her, and she has to know what it was that he really wanted.

She pushes herself off the sofa, placing her cup on the small coffee table in front of her, before making her way towards Cato and sliding into his lap. "What was it you wanted, Cato?" Katniss asks as she looks up into his piercing blue eyes. "Was it this?" She breathes out as she slowly starts to grind on him. She feels his cock begin to harden through his jeans and smirks at him as she trails her hands down his chest.

"Katniss." Cato growls out as his hands grip her hips, stilling her movement. "That's not what I wanted and you know it." He stares down into her luminous gray eyes and slowly slides her off of him and to the side. He takes a moment and readjusts himself before turning to face her. "Is that all we are?" His voice is low, tinged with a hint of _something_ Katniss can't seem to recognize. "I just- after all this time, and that's all you're interested in?" His gaze settles on her eyes and she swallows and looks away uncomfortably. Cato sighs and climbs off of her sofa before making his way to the door. "I'll see you later." His tone is flat, that little _something_ from earlier gone. He's gone before she can even tell him to wait.

The next few days are awkward between the two of them, to say the least. Katniss can't find the words to say, and Cato goes out of his way to avoid her. Years of friendship ruined by a simple agreement to satisfy each other's physical needs, never once taking into account what the other might have felt. Finally, Katniss snaps, she grabs Cato by the collar one day when he passes by her apartment and drags him inside. "Why the fuck are you avoiding me?" She hisses as she slams him against the counter.

Cato scoffs, his eyes peering into hers. "That's rich coming from you, Katniss. I don't exactly remember _you_ trying to talk to me." And it's true, she hasn't tried to talk to him, but that's not for lack of trying, really, she just couldn't find anything to say to him.

Cato pries her hands off of his shoulders and makes to leave before Katniss grabs his arm again. He almost throws her arm off of him but stops. "Wait. Please." Her voice is barely a whisper and he just barely manages to catch it. He sighs and turns to face Katniss. "Just- just bear with me, please." She tugs on his arm and leads him to the couch. "I just wanted to know what you meant before when you said that what you wanted was different." Katniss bites her lips and sighs as she pulls Cato down next to her. "I'm not- I'm not good at stuff like _this_, you should know that better than anyone."

"Yeah, I should, but the thing is, you aren't." He chuckles deprecatingly. "You're so good with other people but when it comes to _me_, you just freak out and shy away from me and I fucking hate that." He sets his jaw and glances away. "Fifteen years, Katniss. Fifteen years I've known you and yet, you just-" He shuts his eyes, "You never noticed _me_. It was always those other boys, never me, and I had to watch from the sidelines while you were out there taking names and breaking hearts. Sure, I'm not innocent, but it still hurt when I had to pretend it was _you_, still pissed me off beyond belief when I had to close my eyes because all I could _think_ about was you."

Cato opens his eyes and looks back at Katniss. "And then one day you came to me with an offer: your body for mine, but never our hearts. And I told myself, 'I could handle it, because as long as I had you in my arms I would be fine.'" He peers into her eyes, willing her to look away. "But I wasn't, I wasn't fine because as much as I tried not to, I kept fucking falling in love with you." That finally does the trick, she turns away from his gaze and Cato finds himself smiling sadly. "Yes, Katniss, I'm in love with you, and I really should have known better. [You promised me anything, but you never placed any limits. You wanted to know what I want. Well, the answer is simple, I want _you_.]"

Katniss swallows thickly as she listens to Cato, she's always suspected that things on his side weren't just strictly for physical pleasure, and it all suddenly makes sense to her. The dirty sweet nothings he would whisper into her ear as he fucked her weren't _just_ nothings, and the occasional times where he would help scare off some boy pursuing her wasn't just because she'd asked him. No, she's pretty sure that there's always been more to everything, even before she came to him looking for sex. "I- I don't know what to say, Cato." And it's true, she doesn't know what to say, she gave up on love and marriage and children and _everything_ like that when she was younger. She doesn't believe in the 'fairytale' anymore, not after her father died and left her with a broken mother and a shattered family. But Cato, Cato was her anchor, he kept her tied to the ground when there seemed to be nothing else left, and if he leaves her she wouldn't know what to do.

She briefly realizes that maybe she might be in love with him too or maybe one day might be able to fall in love with him, she knows that she _loves_ him, he's her best friend, has been for over half her life. They've been inseparable since they were eight, and it wasn't until they turned twenty-two last year that they took that plunge.

"Of course you don't." He replies bitterly. "I never expected anything from you, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't still hurt." He sighs and stands up, "You promised me anything I wanted, but you never placed any limits, Katniss."

"I know I did, but I just- I just didn't." She can't find anything to say to him, she isn't sure of how she feels right now, and she's never been one to ever lie to Cato. So instead, she merely stands and slowly walks up to him, her eyes fixed on his. "Tell me what you want, Cato." Her voice is low, but steady. "Tell me what you really want."

Cato shakes his head. "It's not just what _I_ want, Katniss. It's what _you_ want." He sighs and begins walking towards the door. "We can forget that _this_," he gestures between the two of them, "ever happened and just continue on our merry way as _friends only_," he tries not to show how disturbed that makes him feel, "or we can give it a shot, try to make it work. Take your pick, because I'm sick. I'm sick of having you in my arms, but not having _you_, I'm sick of loving your body but not being able to _love_ you, and I know that this is essentially an ultimatum and that you hate being told or forced what to do, but I can't take it anymore." He rests against the doorway. "So take your pick, Katniss. I'm promising you anything, but you have to give to receive."

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**A/N: Honestly, this really spun out of control. It wasn't supposed to be so convoluted; it was just supposed to be seduction, confrontation, then going out for a date, and then sex, maybe. But… yeah, it just kept going. I might write a sequel to this since I kind of left it hanging, but I don't know, it really depends on the feedback. The brackets are basically things Cato or Katniss wanted to say in that moment, but couldn't.**

**Okay, so I promised a more in-depth explanation down here. Basically, this will be Cato and Katniss, obviously, and anyone can send in a prompt if they want, it can have other pairings, but Cato and Katniss have to be in the prompt somehow; it can be angst, fluff, drama, whatever you guys want, it can even be set in a different universe besides The Hunger Games or modern times if you want. PM me and let me know if anyone has an idea for the next letter, excluding 'B' or 'C', otherwise I'll start working on it as soon as I can.**

**Anyway, leave a review and let me know what you think. **


	2. B

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I'll start incorporating some of your suggestions into later letters. Remember, you can always PM me specific prompts too! Of course, that's if you want to.**

**Background info: Cato won the 73rd Games, Katniss the 74th. Peeta wasn't reaped for the 74th, Prim is nice and safe, it's the 76th Games, and the Quell wasn't that crazy.**

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_But, Beautiful – She's Different [Hunger Games AU]_

Rated T

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"But she's-" Cato's interrupted by the harsh and stinging slap of his former Mentor.

"Shut the fuck up, Cato." Brutus hisses at him as he grabs his collar. "You will not associate yourself with that District Twelve trash. Are we clear?"

Cato merely nods before brushing Brutus' hand off of him. "Yeah, sure." He murmurs before stalking off towards the elevator. He's not surprised that Brutus still holds some resentment against District 12, but he'd thought that since Katniss was a Victor, Brutus would at least lighten up and see that she's not 'trash' like he claims. Cato supposes that over time, Brutus will actually see Katniss for what she actually is then what he thinks she is.

He'll admit it, he's not above Brutus at all, when he first met Katniss, he was blinded by the stereotypes and hatred for lower Districts like the rest of the individuals who were trained at the academy, but he eventually learned to overlook those when it came to her. Over time, he came to realize that she wasn't a sneaky little rat that would sooner slit your throat while you slept than talk to you, in fact, if she was in a good mood, Katniss was downright friendly. Of course, there was a bit of apprehension on both sides before they even managed to call themselves friends, let alone acquaintances. But, she's different, and that's all that matters to him.

He glances at the various buttons in front of him. There are currently sixteen different floors he can choose from; composed of the two basements where the training areas are, the lobby, the roof, and of course, the twelve District floors. He has a very interesting decision to make right now; he can either go down to the pool, stop by District 12's floor, or head up to the roof and just sit and stare out towards the nighttime sky or what little of the sky he's able to see with all of the lights and pollution coming from the Capitol. The last two choices have pretty much the same chance of running into Katniss so they're practically at the top of the list. However, he does know that Katniss has an innate knack for swimming and that she tends to go down to the pool at night when everyone else is sleeping so he supposes that she could also be down there.

Fuck it, he decides after a second or two of thinking about it. He'll stop by the roof first and go down in descending order until he finds her, won't be too much of a hassle.

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The roof turned out to be a dead end, Cato couldn't find Katniss lounging around anywhere up there. He'd checked all of her favorite spots: the garden, the trees, even the small pond to no avail. Sighing, he makes his way back towards the double doors leading to the elevators. He rides down to District 12's floor and knocks on the apartment door. To his surprise, Haymitch answers the door, and he actually appears… sober. "What do ya want?" He snarls at Cato, obviously angry about his current state of inebriation, or lack thereof.

Cato merely grins at Haymitch and brushes past him into the apartment. "Is Katniss here?" He asks as he leans against a counter in the kitchen and grabs an apple from a small bowl.

Haymitch rolls his eyes at Cato's cavalier attitude and snatches the apple away from him. "One," He bops Cato in the forehead with his hand, "that's mine and you have your own downstairs. And two, no, Katniss isn't here."

Cato grabs another apple and bites into it before Haymitch can say anything. "Well where is she?" He asks as he chews with his mouth open purposely.

Haymitch grunts in frustration and picks up the bowl of apples, pulling it towards him and walking into the kitchen. "If I tell you, will you leave me alone and stop eating all my shit?" He grumbles as he opens the freezer and pulls out a bottle of vodka.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't." Cato shrugs and watches as Haymitch begins cutting up the apples and dropping them into a jar. "What are you doing?" He asks curiously once he sees Haymitch empty the bottle of vodka into the jar.

"Making myself a drink," He grumbles as he seals the jar and shakes it. "_Someone_," he bites out as he slams down the jar, "poured out all my alcohol and if I'm going to survive the next three or so weeks, I'm going to need a freaking drink."

Cato smirks and walks over into the kitchen. "Let me guess. Was this 'someone' about yea high," he holds his hand up to his chin, "dark- chestnut colored hair, olive yet kind of pale skin, hair in a braid?" He has a hunch that Katniss deliberately poured out all his alcohol in an attempt to actually keep Haymitch sober for more than a day or two. His hunch actually pans out when Haymitch grunts and places the jar into a dark cabinet.

"Yeah, Katniss dumped out all of my good shit. Even that fancy ass fruit infused alcohol I managed to snag from Brutus." He grumbles underneath his breath and pulls out a bottle of dry vermouth. "I didn't even have a chance to taste it, and now I'll have to wait a few days to even see what it was like," he points to the cabinet where he stowed the jar, "since it takes a while for the flavor to steep into the liquor." Gesturing to the bottle of vermouth in his hand, "And this is all I have left, and it fucking sucks unless you have something else, like gin, you can use it as a modifier with."

Cato stares at Haymitch in awe, one of his eyebrows quirked. "That," he chuckles and shakes his head disbelievingly, "was probably the most I've heard you speak without slurring your words. Honestly, I think I can see why Katniss decided to pour out all of your alcohol."

Haymitch glares at Cato scathingly. "Yeah, whatever. She's down at the pool." He points towards the door with his thumb. "Now get out."

Cato nods and begins walking towards the door. "Thanks," he calls out over his shoulder as he leaves the apartment. He gets into the elevator and pushes the button for District 2, stopping only briefly to grab a towel and change into some board shorts before heading down to the pool. He briefly wonders if Katniss is actually swimming, but soon dismisses that thought, why else would she be at the pool?

The doors open to a small hallway with three doors, two for changing rooms, and one that leads to the main pool. Cato pushes his way through the double doors in the center, stopping only when he hears the tell-tale sound of someone swimming. Glancing at the pool, he spots a sleek figure clad in a black two piece doing backstrokes. He recognizes it as Katniss, her sloppy technique instantly giving her away.

He debates on whether or not to let her know he's there. On one hand, he can just sit and watch as Katniss swims around in her little bikini, on the other… Cato supposes the best way to go about things would be to just slowly slink into the pool and scare Katniss, something he's always been fond of. The absolute look of terror on her face was sometimes comical, and if he were to be honest with himself, kind of attractive; the way her eyes widened, showing off her beautiful gray pupils, and the way her mouth parted, a small gasp of breath escaping her plump lips, oh those plump lips that he so desperately wants to crush against his. He swallows and shakes his head to clear his thoughts, lust and friendship are never really good things to mix together.

Pulling his shirt off, he tosses it and his towel onto a nearby chair before kicking off his shoes and climbing into the pool slowly. Katniss is still working on her backstrokes, the loud splashing masking his approach as he slips underneath the water. He makes his way towards her general direction, hoping she won't look down and see him approaching. Opening his eyes, Cato can just barely make out Katniss' figure. She's resting, her legs kicking softly to keep her afloat. He reaches out and grasps her ankle, pulling her down towards him. Looking back, it really wasn't something Cato should have done.

Katniss kicks down at Cato and nails him in the face, a large amount of air escaping in bubbles towards the surface. Releasing her leg, he shoots up to the surface, taking in a large breath. Before he can even say anything, he's met with a harsh slap to the face. _Fuck, twice in one day?_

"Cato, you fucking asshole!" Katniss screeches at him as she wipes the water off of her face.

Cato chuckles and reaches out, brushing a strand of now soaked hair out of her face. "Why hello there, beautiful."

Katniss rolls her eyes, used to Cato's constant flirting, or is it flirting if that's how he usually greets her? "Shut up," She grumbles and splashes him, "I almost drowned, you idiot."

He grins and splashes her in the face before he starts swimming freestyle out towards the edge of the pool. "Come on, let's see if you can keep up."

Katniss sputters before turning to face his rapidly disappearing form. "Wh- hey, you dick!" She immediately sets off behind him, desperately hoping to catch Cato. She realizes after a few seconds that it might be a pointless endeavor, Cato has had years and the necessary facilities to perfect his style of swimming, while she's only had a few stolen moments in the rather large and cold lake in the forest surrounding District 12. It's not a fair fight, but then again, when is it ever?

Cato waits for her near the edge of the pool, a grin on his face once he sees just how badly he'd beaten her. "Should have made a bet…" He murmurs, clicking his tongue as Katniss grabs hold of the edge.

"Yeah, and what would you have wagered?" She asks curiously, kicking Cato underneath the water.

He shrugs and pushes off the wall. "I don't know, really." He's lying, he knows exactly what he would have wagered, but the trouble is that Cato doesn't know how Katniss would have reacted. "What would you have wagered in return?" He asks, hoping to gauge her thought patterns.

Katniss shrugs, running her hand through the water. "I don't know, it would have depended on what you bet, and if you hadn't had _cheated_," she glares at him pointedly before continuing on, "maybe it would have been worth your while, who knows?" She smirks and splashes Cato in the face before swimming off again.

Cato stares after her, a small grin forming on his face as he sets after her. These are the moments that he enjoys, where Katniss comes out of her shell and shows that she's different from what everyone else thinks. Sure, the girl on fire can be, ironically, quite frigid at times, but thaw her out a bit and she can be quite different. Lunging towards her, Cato pulls Katniss into his arms as he kicks down hard enough to keep them afloat, a triumphant grin on his face. "Gotcha."

"Well," Katniss grins as she tries to extricate herself from his hold, "what do you plan on doing now?" She asks as she settles for just floating in his arms.

Leaning forward, Cato tilts her head up a bit and presses a chaste kiss to her lips. Despite everything that Brutus and his whole District has to say about Katniss, she's different, and that's all that matters to him. Maybe one day, he'll be able to set her ablaze and find another side he hasn't had the chance to explore.

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**Okay, so I literally have no idea what the hell this was even supposed to be. I mean, I just kind of lost steam when I was trying to write the ending. I promise I'll do better on the next chapter! It's just kind of hard sticking to 'B' for But, I had this nice idea for a different story arc which would have been titled 'Broken' but I really wanted to stick with this. And as for the whole Haymitch scene, I really have no idea how vermouth tastes by itself, I've heard varying opinions, most of them saying to never drink it.**

**Anyway, leave a comment and let me know what you think, I'll start working on 'C' right now and it will probably be out soon, depending on my schedule.**


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